Mcdonald’s Operator Westlife To Power A Third Of New Stores With Solar By FY24

To mark World Environment Day 2023, Westlife Foodworld Ltd. (formerly Westlife Development Ltd.) – owner and operator of McDonald’s restaurants in West and South India will progressively install rooftop solar panels on one-third of its new restaurants in FY24. This move is part of the company’s goal to increase the use of renewable energy.

In the last two years, Westlife claims to have reduced its carbon footprint by 16,308 tonne by saving 19.58 million units of electricity.

Smita Jatia, Vice Chairperson, Westlife Foodworld said, “We are committed to a lower carbon footprint, achieved through increased recycling and reuse of materials, use of renewable energy, and reduced consumption. We recognise the critical role that businesses must play in addressing climate change and we are proud to walk the talk. With each step, we are becoming stronger in our fight against climate change. We look forward to continuing our efforts towards a greener future and to serving our customers with delicious and sustainable food.”

Westlife has eliminated single-use plastics from customer-facing packaging. It is also improving energy efficiency at its existing restaurants with the use of LED and OATS (order assembly table set).

Sustainable sourcing is driven by tapping into green-certified ingredients such as UTZ-certified coffee beans, one of the world’s largest sustainable programmes for coffee and cocoa farming. The cooking oil in McDonald’s -West and South- kitchens is converted into biodiesel with Westlife among the pioneers in recycling of converted biodiesel in India.

To promote planting for a greener future and celebrate World Environment Day in the community, McDonald’s restaurants in West and South India are giving away Marigold seeds to their customers.

The company has a rather modest goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

The Westlife initiative underscores the opportunity in the hospitality sector to make changes that can make a real impact on the environment. Tied in as they are to the food chain, step taken in the sector can have a much wider impact if planned well.